The Witcher 4 will have to manage without the Witcher. But at least a little bit of Geralt of Rivia will remain and be preserved.
The next Witcher installment will have to do without Geralt. This has been known for quite some time. However, that does not mean we have to completely forgo the famous monster hunter, as at least his voice will likely appear in one form or another.
The TV series of The Witcher also continues:
What has been said? The voice actor of the English original, Doug Cockle, revealed in an interview that Geralt will be a part of the new Witcher 4 in some way (via yahoo.com):
The Witcher 4 has been announced. I can’t say anything about it. Geralt will be part of the game. We don’t know yet how much that will be, and the focus of the game will not be on Geralt; this time it’s not about him.
In fact, Cockle seems to be excited to play Geralt again. He also lent his voice to the Witcher in the anime adaptation. He himself has no idea in what way Geralt’s story will continue or how he will be utilized in the new game:
I’m excited to find that out. I want to know! I haven’t seen a script so far – I probably shouldn’t even tell you if I had seen it. So I could just be lying boldly right now, but I’m not … or am I?
Why isn’t Geralt participating? That Geralt is no longer participating should have been clear to most players of The Witcher III. Because even though there were many different endings, most of them made it clear that Geralt’s story in this capacity is simply told out. It would also be quite difficult to process the numerous different endings in a new installment in a way that each story is logically continued.
However, if Geralt only appears as a voice, perhaps as a “moral voice in the head” or in flashback scenes, then that would fit much better. Something similar has already been done in many other games, such as in The Last of Us 2 with Joel.
It seems more likely that the story will now focus more on Ciri. The young woman was already the indirect focus of the storyline in Witcher 3, as Geralt spent a long time trying to find his adopted daughter again – and depending on how you finished the game, he managed to do so more or less well. At least over 300 developers are working on the new Witcher – so it will be a big game.
